Setting up OPD bookings on WhatsApp, step by step

Ask any clinic receptionist in Delhi NCR or Bengaluru what fills the first hour of the day and the answer is the same: WhatsApp. Patients message the clinic number at night, on Sundays and between consultations, asking which doctor is in, what the fee is and whether they can get a morning token. OPD appointment booking on WhatsApp is already happening informally at most clinics. The only question is whether a person types every reply or a system does the routine part.

This guide walks through a setup that works for a single-doctor practice, a polyclinic with five consultants or a diagnostic-plus-OPD centre. It covers how to structure doctor schedules, what to put in the knowledge base, where the AI must stop, and how patients experience it. If you want the product view first, see NextReply for medical clinics in India.

The goal is modest and concrete: a patient who messages at 10:30pm gets a correct answer and a confirmed slot with the right doctor, and your staff walk in to a clean calendar instead of 40 unread chats.

An AI can only book what you describe clearly. Before touching any software, write down your OPD on one page. Most clinics find gaps they had been papering over with phone calls.

• Doctors and days. Dr Sharma, General Physician: Mon to Sat, 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 8pm. Dr Iyer, Paediatrics: Tue, Thu, Sat, 11am to 2pm.
• Slot length per doctor. 10 minutes for follow-ups, 15 for new patients, 30 for a procedure consult.
• Token vs timed slots. Many Indian clinics run tokens. You can still book on WhatsApp: the AI gives a reporting time window ("please reach by 10:45 for the 11am batch") instead of a promised minute.
• Consultation fees. New patient, follow-up within 7 days, teleconsult if offered, and whether fees differ by doctor.
• What patients must bring. Old prescriptions, reports, insurance card or TPA details, ID for some procedures.
• Exceptions. Doctor on leave, Sunday emergency only, festival closures.

Put each doctor on their own Google Calendar. NextReply books into real free time on those calendars, so it never double-books Dr Sharma while he is in the middle of a procedure block. The appointment booking feature page shows how slots, durations and buffers work.

Here is the flow a patient should see when they message at night. The AI collects four things: name, doctor or speciality, date, and time or token window.

Patient: "Hello, Dr Sharma kal available hain? Fever ke liye dikhana hai"
AI: "Hello! Dr Sharma is in OPD tomorrow (Wednesday) 10am to 1pm and 6pm to 8pm. Free slots: 10:20am, 11:40am or 6:30pm. New patient fee is ₹700. Which time suits you?"
Patient: "6:30"
AI: "Please share the patient's full name and age."
Patient: "Anjali Verma, 34"
AI: "Confirmed: Anjali Verma, Dr Sharma, Wednesday 6:30pm. Please bring any old prescriptions. If the fever is very high, or there is breathlessness or confusion, please go to the nearest emergency now or call the clinic."

Three details make this work. The weekday is named so "kal" cannot be misread. The fee is stated before booking, which cuts the "I didn't know it was ₹700" conversation at the counter. And the safety line is fixed text written by the clinic, triggered whenever a patient mentions symptoms.

The patient can also send a Hindi voice note or a photo of an old prescription. The AI reads both as context and books the slot, but it does not interpret the prescription. That goes to staff.

Most OPD WhatsApp traffic is not booking at all. It is the same ten questions, asked a hundred times a month. Write good answers once and the AI gives them consistently:

1. What is the consultation fee for a new patient and for a follow-up?
2. Is the follow-up free within 7 days, and does that include reports?
3. Which doctor sees children, diabetes patients or skin problems?
4. Do you accept cashless insurance or a particular TPA? (State only what is true for your clinic.)
5. Is there parking, and which landmark is nearest?
6. Do you take UPI, card or cash?
7. Are blood tests done on site, and is fasting required?
8. When do reports come, and how will I get them?
9. Is the doctor available on Sunday?
10. Can I get a teleconsultation?

Keep answers short and factual. "Fasting blood sugar needs 8 to 10 hours of fasting; water is fine" is useful. Anything that changes per patient, such as whether they should stop a medicine before a test, is a staff question.

This is the most important part of the setup, and the reason many doctors hesitate to automate. A WhatsApp AI at a clinic is a receptionist, not a clinician. It must never read a report, suggest a dose or tell a patient whether a symptom is serious.

Set three kinds of handoff:

• Report queries. "Mera CBC report aaya kya?" or "Is my sugar level normal?" The AI says staff will share the report and notifies your team. It does not open or interpret anything.
• Symptom descriptions. Any message describing pain, fever, bleeding, breathlessness or similar gets your fixed safety message plus a handoff.
• Medicine and dose questions. Always to the doctor or nurse.

When a handoff fires, NextReply sends an instant notification and your staff reply from the WhatsApp Business app on the clinic phone, in the same chat. The patient never has to message a different number. For the full logic, see our guide on after-hours replies, which covers what to say when nobody is on duty until morning.

What cuts OPD no-shows today is a clear written confirmation at the moment of booking. NextReply replies in the chat with the doctor, day, date, time and fee, plus anything the patient should bring, and the slot appears in that doctor's calendar straight away. Patients who cannot come usually reply in the same chat, which frees the slot for someone on the waiting list instead of leaving the doctor idle.

Automatic appointment reminders are built and coming soon, once Meta approves the message templates. When they launch, a short message the evening before ("Dr Iyer, Thursday 11:20am. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to reschedule") will go only to patients who opted in. Until then, front-desk staff can send a quick personal reminder to first-visit patients from the WhatsApp Business app, which keeps working on the same number thanks to Coexistence.

Reminders, when you send them, are WhatsApp template messages, and Meta charges per delivered template, billed for Indian businesses in rupees during 2026. Utility reminders cost far less than marketing messages, but budget for them. Check Meta's pricing page for current Indian rates.

NextReply plans are priced in US dollars, the same in every country: Starter $29, Pro $59 and Business $99 a month, and every plan has a 7-day free trial. At checkout, your card or bank may show an estimate in rupees, and local taxes may apply. Plans cover up to 500, 1,500 or unlimited bookings. A single-doctor clinic usually fits Starter. A polyclinic that wants full conversation history and staff review of past chats tends to pick Pro. Compare plans on the pricing page and see the setup flow on how it works.

Patients who find you on Instagram or Facebook often message you there. Instagram DMs, Messenger and Telegram are coming soon to NextReply and will book into the same doctor calendars; today the AI front desk works on WhatsApp, so add your WhatsApp link to your Instagram bio and Facebook page. See the channels overview. For more clinic and non-clinic examples, browse all industries or the rest of our blog.